Family People Explain What Made Them Cut Off All Contact With Their Parents

Few people are happy about being estranged from their parents. Unfortunately, for reasons ranging from bad parenting to straight-up abuse, plenty of people have stories to tell about cutting ties with their parents. In this list, Redditors share stories about their parents – some of whom qualify as the worst of 2017. It wasn't easy for many of these people to cut off contact with their parents, but in most cases, they're better off for it.

If you have a great, functional relationship with your mom and dad, these bad parent stories from reddit will make you even more thankful for what you have. Read on, but bear in mind that some heartbreaking accounts on this list describe sensitive topics such as child abuse.

Her Abusive Father Put A Gun To Her Head

"Sh*t, my time to shine. My dad was nice to me until I turned 8. It was 4th grade, I hated spelling because it was too easy and boring so I didn't do my homework. Grade 40 for homework, 95 for tests, averaged out to a D. He spanked me with a belt and grounded me from TV and having friends over or going anywhere until the next report card. anytime I brought home less than a b that happened. Eventually it was anything below a C, but I spent all of 7th grade grounded and not allowed to have TV and didn't see anyone outside of school. He began choking me that year, because I had started smarting off to him and resisting the spankings (begging him not to do it, running away).

By the time I turn 15 I had learned how to hit him when he choked me. I split his lip once and left a footprint on his ribs another time. He was verbally abusive.

I got a job and car when I turned 16. By age 17 the economy crashed, I wasn't making any money at my job (rural town, waitressing) and quit working. He flipped out. I joined the military and left him behind. Fast forward 6 years and my marriage had failed. My ex turned into an alcoholic due to ptsd, he also started becoming physically abusive. I wasn't safe anymore. I moved back in with my dad because I didn't have any other option. A year later he put a gun to my head.We haven't spoken since."

This Person Was Abused By Three Sets Of Parents

"My biological dad is an addict who abused me, my mom, and my siblings. He managed to get everyone to believe that he was the victim and/or that he'd made a forgivable mistake. Also, since he didn't get what he wanted from my mother, he made me his wife. Yes, in all the aspects you'd imagine.

My biological mom, well, she...it's a long story, but eventually I ended up having to leave my family because of the abuse she enacted or enabled. We left my dad, and I thought everything would be okay. It wasn't. She herself is extremely unstable and emotionally abusive, and encouraged my brother to verbally abuse me. At one point, he was telling me to kill myself and she said he was entitled to his opinion, but when I tried to say something she told me not to be rude. She also watched as my brother tried to strangle me, and did nothing.

My foster parents...I don't even know. They took me in for over a year, and I really thought they'd end up being my family. But since I couldn't perform how they wanted me to and "overcome my mental illness," they made me leave soon after I turned 18. Then, my second foster mom convinced them that I was a selfish person who faked abuse. They weren't as close to me as I first thought, and they haven't contacted me or responded to my contact since.

My second foster family...they took me in as a rentee, kind of? My foster brother, whom I adore and consider to be my real brother, had no idea what was going on in his family. His mom at first said she'd be my mom and take care of me forever. She bought me things. Then, she molested me while "teaching me to take a bath." Then, I learned she'd been molesting my foster brother since he was a small child. And his father did nothing. She was abusive mentally, emotionally, even physically. I was kicked out for "turning her son against her," and now I live in a homeless youth shelter. She told me I'd never be successful. Joke's on her, I graduated two days ago and am moving into an apartment with my girlfriend on the 1st.

...three sets of parents. It's hard, honestly, sometimes I feel like I'm just not deserving of family. But my foster brother, my girlfriend, my high school staff and teachers, they've given me what I never thought I'd have. Maybe not family legally or by blood, but family."

This Mom Had Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy

"Ever heard of Munchausen's by proxy? Basically my mother would purposely make me sick, or keep me sick to gain sympathy or attention from other people. She always would tell me it was my fault, or that if I told anyone I would have no where to live because my dad left when I was a baby (bc my mom way crazy) and the rest of my family lived far away.

One of the worst instances that I can remember was we were swinging on the swing set and my mother pushed me off the swing. I had broken my arm, and knew it because the bone was sticking out. She wouldn't take me to the hospital for like two days, and when the doctor asked her what took so long, she claimed it was because I tried to hide it from her. She would constantly hit me[, or] put my arm on the table so she could hit it, so it wouldn't heal. A 6-7 week period that I was suppose to be in a cast took 15 weeks, including [the] doctors having to rebreak my arm.

Basically this didn't stop until[,] what started with a UTI turn into a dangerous kidney infection. At that point the doctor noticed my suspiciously long medical record and called a social worker. At 15 I was finally rehomed with my aunt halfway across the county and said a big f you my mom."

Her Mother Used Her Personal Tragedy To Gain Sympathy

"My mother is a pill head/possible heroin user. I had an idea when I was in my pre-teens that something was wrong, but it never really clicked. We fought a lot when I met my boyfriend (now husband: together a total 10 years). She accused him of raping me because he's five years older, after I graduated I moved out and rarely spoke to her. Years later, after losing our firstborn child just hours after her birth, my mother refuses to leave my hospital room. Wailing about her loss, how her life has changed, how devastated she is. Even though I had just sent my daughter's 1lb body to a crematorium. After our second child was born, I let her come by once. She showed up high. Pills? Idk. She was holding my 5lb premie... falling asleep standing up. When I confronted her she blamed my husband. Saying that he is turning me against her. I haven't talked to her since. Stories around town hint at theft, prostitution. She still shit talks my husband, its a small town. I hear about it. There's more to her madness, but the narcissism after dealing with my daughter's death is something I can never forgive."